


Scrubb vs. the King

by TrisB



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Canon Insert, Gen, Humor, Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-16
Updated: 2006-04-16
Packaged: 2017-10-14 20:18:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/153073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrisB/pseuds/TrisB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now you will remember as I've told you that after spending quite some time in the skin of a dragon, Eustace was reformed. However, it must be said that not every day was as good as it ought to have been, and sometimes he still behaved like rather a pill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scrubb vs. the King

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jerushajen](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Jerushajen).



Now you will remember as I've told you that after spending quite some time in the skin of a dragon, Eustace was reformed. However, it must be said that not every day was as good as it ought to have been, and sometimes he still behaved like rather a pill.

On one such occasion, he was engaged in a game of chess with Caspian out on the deck, getting sunburnt as one does out at sea, and generally hating everything he saw. Caspian, who had seven of Eustace's chessmen as opposed to Eustace's three, shifted in his seat, eyeing the board thoughtfully. Hoping to interrupt a winning train of thought, Eustace blurted out, "That horn on your belt's a little cumbersome, isn't it?"

"Usually I don't wear it," Caspian mused distractedly, "but I had a feeling today." He gave Eustace a look. "That I might need some help. Clearly, I was wrong."

"So that's the mystical old horn, then? Goes with Lu's cordial and — er?" Eustace felt he was forgetting something, not being able to recall Edmund's gift from the first Christmas, but of course what he couldn't remember was that Edmund hadn't received anything at all, having acted even worse than Eustace was now at the time the Pevensies met Father Christmas.

"Yes," said Caspian, taking Eustace's other castle, "upon the blowing of which whatever help such as I require will magically avail itself to me. Bequeathed unto me by Her Majesty Susan the Gentle, legendary Queen of Narnia."

Eustace sniffed with disdain, and moved his knight to a vulnerable spot. "Ah, I know her well." This was a lie, as he had only ever seen Susan before he went to Narnia and changed for the better, and as a result had never known anyone well, since nobody wanted to know him.

"In her day, she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world, you know. Princes from every land clamoured for her hand in marriage, but she felt tied to Narnia's lands and her family."

"Certainly," Eustace retorted. "We Scrubb-Pevensie clan have always been extremely close. I remember playing with her as children. She is, after all, my cousin."

"How lovely it must be to have family," Caspian sighed. "Mine were all murdered by usurpers to my throne.... I say, checkmate. There's a good lad."

Eustace pleaded his old seasickness, and spent the rest of the day in his bunk, feeling miserable and so humiliated that he pretended to be sleeping when Caspian came in to get him for supper, even though it was just six in the evening and Eustace was dreadfully hungry. When Caspian and Edmund came in that night they were still talking about their hearty meal and the fantastic time they'd had, and the two of them chuckled almost until they'd fallen asleep. All of which goes to show two things: first, that no matter how easy it is to be good some places (and it is much easier in Narnia where nearly everyone's a brick and the trees tell stories if you ask them right), it's just as easy to be a beast and ruin your day, a poor idea all around; and second, never enter a bragging contest with a king, because 'badly' is the best it can end.


End file.
